Chapter 16.1

Ai Wen almost burst into tears when she saw the person who was in Li Xiao’s arms.

After Xu Manqin entered the car, Ai Wen hastily drove the car to escape the place. Li Xiao had an agreement with Ai Wen to let Xu Manqin stay with Ai Wen for a little while. After all, Li Xiao’s surroundings were likely to be closely monitored after this incident.

Ai Wen stared at the calm Xu Manqin with excitement and said, “I really thought you went insane. I should’ve known that you wouldn’t have broken down that easily.”

Acting insane for a year had exhausted Xu Manqin both mentally and physically. She closed her eyes and lightly said, “If I didn’t act crazy and something happened to Zhan Jiayin, they would all blame me. Xiao Xiao would also become an eternal thorn in his side.”

“He would only treat Xiao Xiao well if I was crazy.”

Ai Wen was saddened by her words. It was no wonder that Zhan Jiayin never made any attempt to contact the outside world. After the fall of the Xu family, Xu Manqin only had her daughter to be concerned about.

Li Xiao felt a lump in her throat. She gripped Xu Manqin’s hand and said, “Don’t worry. I’ll bring you justice.”

Xu Manqin opened her eyes and gently gazed at Li Xiao. “You grew a lot.”

Xu Manqin’s eyes turned red as she continued, “You must’ve suffered so much this year.”

Before, her daughter’s face always contained fearlessness, and she was always headstrong. Li Xiao was like a proud princess whose warmth was like the sun. Now, she was calm and collected, as if someone had knocked her off her pedestal. She seemed to regard Li Nanjue as an irrelevant person.

Without her parents to protect her, Li Xiao had matured at an alarming pace.

Li Xiao pursed her lips and downplayed her sufferings. “Actually, it’s okay. Zhan Jiayin loves her reputation. Although it’s just for show, she doesn’t dare to treat me badly.”

In front of Xu Manqin, Li Xiao couldn’t bring herself to say that her daughter, the original owner of Li Xiao’s body, was no longer here. She was afraid that Xu Manqin wouldn’t take the news very well.

Ai Wen dropped Xu Manqin off at the house she had bought before dropping Li Xiao to her villa.

The sun had already begun to rise in the sky. Li Xiao watched the sparrow spirit, who was in the kitchen, rapidly typing. She took out a bag of bread from the refrigerator and ate her fill. Afterward, she called up her chauffeur and told him to drive her to the Li family house. She still had one more battle to fight.

****

Li Nanjue hadn’t gotten a wink of sleep last night. He had stayed awake watching the footage from the security cameras.

He had originally married Xu Manqin to solidify his position. There were no feelings in the marriage. But when Xu Manqin tried to frame the woman he loved, Li Nanjue began to hate her.

Li Nanjue thought he still hated her, but when he received the news about her death in the fire, he wasn’t as happy as he thought he’d be. A portion of his heart seemed empty, and he couldn’t place a finger on the feeling.

In the surveillance footage, Xu Manqin thought of a doll as Li Xiao and a chair as him. In her world, she had a loving husband and an adorable daughter.

She personally designed clothes for Li Nanjue and learned how to make dim sum for him. It was only when Xu Manqin was insane that she was able to be the loving wife of Li Nanjue.

Li Nanjue had always thought that Xu Manqin only cared about the Xu family’s honor and fame. But had she actually loved him and Li Xiao?

The bodyguard had reported that before Xu Manqin died, she had called out Li Nanjue’s name, claiming she was scared. Li Nanjue hadn’t been aware she was scared of the dark because when Xu Manqin was with him, she always acted tough and indifferent.

But that Xu Manqin had died. She died in the dark. She died in the fire. Li Nanjue didn’t know if she was conscious before she died.

Li Nanjue looked at the bracelet that the bodyguard had brought him. It was burnt to a crisp, and its former glory was nowhere to be found. No one had known that this was the bracelet he had bought Xu Manqin for their wedding. Li Nanjue didn’t think that she would still wear it after all this time.